Sunday, April 25, 2021 at 4:22 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 16:26

ADO Den Haag has come a lot closer to relegation from the Eredivisie on Sunday afternoon. The team of trainer Ruud Brood had no answer in-house to the razor-sharp changes of Fortuna Sittard: 0-3. Due to the defeat, the gap to place sixteen has increased to eight points, partly because FC Emmen did manage to win against Heracles Almelo earlier in the afternoon at home: 3-1. For Fortuna it meant the first victory in a month and a half, after they had been lost in the past three games. The team of trainer Sjors Ultee is now definitely safe and can even hope for the play-offs for European football. The gap on number eight Heracles is only two points.

ADO usually has little trouble with Fortuna in-house and the low flyer remained unbeaten in the last five encounters in the Cars Jeans Stadium. The home team had to watch how the visitors created the first danger of the game this time, when Mats Seuntjens saw a shot from a long distance go wide. Not much later, Fortuna was seriously disappointed when Dario van den Buijs was forced to be replaced after five minutes due to an injury. Ultee’s formation then got into the game better and even took the lead in The Hague five minutes before half time. After an excellent combination in the sixteen of ADO, Zian Flemming hit on a pass from Emil Hansson.

Fortuna lurked in The Hague for the switch and left the ball to the home team, which did not manage to convert the field predominance into great opportunities. ADO was even lucky that it did not go into the dressing rooms with a bigger backlog, after Sebastian Polter hit the post with a header with a header. Just as a result, Gianni Zuiverloon was unable to work a shot that changed direction from close range behind Piet Velthuizen. Velthuizen returned under the bar at Fortuna after first goalkeeper Yanick van Osch was tested positive for the corona virus this week. After the break, the last sparks of hope from ADO were quickly thrown into the trash by Fortuna.

It took the visitors only three minutes to double the score. Seuntjens sent Flemming into the depths on the right side of the field with an excellent pass, after which Polter’s cross at the far post could be easily rounded off by Polter: 0-2. ADO tried it, but was often outdone in the duels and had to watch how Fortuna simply played out under the pressure a few times. The final score was set fifteen minutes before the end by Tesfaldet Tekie. The midfielder was given all the time and space to build from about twenty meters and found the right corner next to Fraisl: 0-3.